The Images they Show…

There are images that break your heart. The news is filled with them today and they can easily sway you to think that all of the situation in the Middle East comes down to a picture. How horrible, truly tragic, unacceptable and wrong it is to have a child die.

It is so horrible, sometimes you forget to look behind the picture. It’s so simple, really. A child should be able to go to school and be safe. I last spoke to my son days ago and in the background I could hear the sound of explosions. Through the phone, dozens of kilometers away from me, and quite a distance from Elie, I could hear another unit firing. Can you imagine how loud that would be up close?

Yesterday, mortars were fired FROM the school In Jebalya. This was a direct and intentional attack on Israel, on Israel’s soldiers and population. Mortars are explosions. They are loud. You can’t pretend you didn’t hear them. Many months ago, I went to a ceremony on a base where Elie had completed his basic training. Part of the ceremony included Elie’s group showing their parents what they had learned. After the awards and the talking, some of the soldiers ran to the armored personnel vehicles, while others, including Elie sat on the ground and watched. An officer came near me, as I stood watching with my youngest daughter. He told me to sit down with the girl “on your lap.” So, we sat down, as the soldiers were doing. As another officer was explaining to the crowd about the types of explosives that would be fired, where they would be targeting (the hill a few kilometers in the distance), etc. I saw the soldiers stick their fingers in their ears.

I thought to myself – they’ve been doing this – they know. So I told my daughter to do the same…quickly. She did, and so did I. Except – then I couldn’t hear the explanation and so I uncovered my ears. Now, I’ve lived in Israel more than 15 years, but there is still sometimes a delay factor in my Hebrew comprehension. Now they are going to fire…took me too long and so, I heard and felt the BOOM as the cannons fired.

Everyone in that building yesterday KNEW that the school was being used as a launching ground…and yet, apparently not one of those thought it would be a smart thing to leave. That seems strange to me, unnatural. I was once in Jerusalem, walking with by two daughters when something “exploded” ahead of me. Everyone around me stopped, as I did. It was a bus hitting something that went flying in the air and crashed loudly into something else. People began to move and yet I stood there, unsure what to do. It should be both human instinct and parental instinct to move away from danger.

And the people who now mourn the “innocents” who died in yesterday’s attack on the United Nations school don’t question why people remained in the building from which these weapons were fired. They don’t question that this defies human instinct and certainly what should have been every parent’s first reaction. The people in the school died for three simple reasons:

1. Palestinians decided to use the United Nations school as a launching base to attack innocent civilians. This wasn’t the first time they had used the school. Months ago, Israel filed a formal complaint to the United Nations. Clearly, nothing was done to stop this abuse and so we come to reason # 2.

2. The United Nations did not stop the Palestinians from using their area. One might argue that they could not stop them – and the answer, the simple answer was that they should then have made it clear, publicly, that they could not offer a place of refuge in a firing range. They should not have allowed families to take refuge in such a place. And that brings me to # 3.

3. The families and parents. I heard a father mourning the death of his son. He blames the Israeli government, and I blame him. “Are you insane?” I want to ask him. “How could you allow your son to be near mortars being fired? What did you think Israel was going to do?” Why didn’t you take your son? Why didn’t you behave responsibly? It was YOUR job to protect him; to love him enough to keep him safe and it doesn’t take a genious to figure out leaving your son in a building from which mortars are being fired in the middle of a war is negligent, stupid, insane, and so so wrong. How could Israel have known that there were people in the building? All they could know is that mortars were being fired from that location. My son is stationed far from the cities. Why? Because if he is a target, we don’t want civilians nearby. We do not hide in hospitals, in schools, in homes. Why, why do the Palestinians? And if they do, why, why does the world blame Israel?

People will ask how it is that I don’t blame Israel and the answer is simple. Fire came from that building. Call it what you want – a school, a refuge, a mosque, a home…if you shoot at an enemy…common sense would say the enemy will shoot back. Do it from inside a mosque, and the mosque becomes a target. Do it from inside a school, and the school becomes a target. Do it from behind your citizens and families, and you show the true nature of your society, your culture, your cause.

So, beyond the tragic pictures from yesterday, I offer a deeper image of what life is like in the Middle East. There are the tragic pictures – but please take a moment to look beyond…and below.

These are the images they show:

These are the images they DON’T show:

And what they forget to tell you – is the people who allowed these many pictures to happen, the ones who posed these children with guns, painted their hands with “blood” and strapped “explosive belts” to their bodies, the ones who raise them to believe death should be attained for the glory of God and the more Jews and heathens and infidels you take with you, the higher your place in Heaven – they are the ones responsible for the horror that happened yesterday because they are the ones who put hundreds of people into a place that should have been a sanctuary and then they turned it into a launching ground.

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66 Comments on The Images they Show…

We are here v.v. close to it all. If you’d like to talk to me about your son (he may be in the area and p’raps we can help please let me know and maybe we can arrange to visit him. yodotsandot13athotmaildot comAnother Soldier’s Mother

some of the conservative, military mom sites I read had a You Tube of the school, and mortars being launched back in October. The information is out there. Thank you for speaking up and showing the pictures the mainstream media refuses to show.

You make great points about parental responsibility; I don’t think you go far enough. When a rocket is fired from a Mosque or school it is no longer a Mosque it is no longer a school it is a missile silos and military target.

In looking at the pictures you don’t see, here’s what dawned on me. What is the difference between a child who has a bead on the target and pulls a trigger or an adult who does it? At that very moment the target needs to respond. Unfortunately and my heart goes out to the innocence these children lost; these children are soldiers or the very least junior soldiers and are just as deadly.

Thank you so much, not only for speaking out but for posting the horrible pictures of child abuse that the RIFs perpetrate on those who most need their protection. I got to this blog by way of a a tweet from Brian Ledbetter’s Twitter Stream for Snapped Shot (debunking the Propaganda War one image at a time)

I remember when the Hezbollah and Hamas first started promoting the “Hilter Youth” style children’s leagues in 2006 (that image you have of kids with headbands and face paint was taken back then) as part of the ongoing Propaganda War.

It’s so horrible that these children are being brainwashed and the world just stands by to watch it…in silence. No, excuse me, not silence. We Israelis are of COURSE at fault for the abusive brainwashing of the RIF’s children, too. My mistake!

-srySarah, The Webbiegrrl WriterAn American-Israeli stuck in the middle with you

As a father of a son currently in the I.D.F. (NAHAL CHARADI) I stand with you.

A song of Maalot. Out of the depths have I cry to you, O L-rd. L-rd, hear my voice; let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If you, L-rd should mark iniquities, O L-rd who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. I wait for the L-rd, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. Msoul waits for the L-rd more than those who watch for the morning watch for the morning. Let Israel hope in the L-rd;’ for with the L-rd there is loving kindness, and with him is bountiful redemption, And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

I understand your point is that parents were keeping their children their on purpose.

But as I read what you wrote I wondered if some of the people seeking shelter there were sort of being held hostage by the Hamas fighters. We know there were Hamas fighters there because some of the bodies have been identified. And we know Hamas fighters will kill Palestinian civilians that don’t go along with their program.

Yes, absolutely. From what I understand, at least one man was claiming that he was locked in by Hamas – thus supporting Israel’s complaint that Hamas is using the civilian population as human shields. Today, something important happened in Gaza. Israel announced it would not fire between 1-4 p.m. so people could go out and shop…and, as promised, Israel did not fire. Hamas tried to tell people not to trust Israel and not to go out…and they did go – which proved, in a strange way, that they trust Israel to keep its word more than they believe or trust Hamas.

Great Post.I have tried to make the same point to the terrorist apologists and condemning leftists that I talk to, but you do a much better job than I do.Keep up the good work. Best wishes to your son doing his duty.

You are very eloquent. Thank you for your words of truth, they are appreciated. Please know that you are not alone that there are other mothers who understand what is really going on in Gaza and who feel nothing but contempt for Hamas and their shameful ways. May God keep your children safe.

I toohave seen the pictures. As the father of two young boys they break my heart.

BUT

I hate to blame the victims, but if a battle was going on in my city, I would not be sending my kids to school. I would keep them home or find a basement to hide them in. I would keep them as far away as I could from the fighting.

No matter what yoy uthnk of Hamas (they can go to Hell as far as I am concerned) or Israel (with whom I generally sympathize), the whole situation is just so sad and tragic.

I hope you and your son is safe. Ialso hope the children of Gaza and Sderot are safe also.

I left Viet-Nam over 40 years ago. One of the charges leveled repeatedly was that of “baby killer”. As I told people, when a child is taught to shoot other people, they are no longer children, but combatants. If Arab parents desire to teach their children to use lethal force against others, they should harbor no thoughts that others will not return fire. A combatant is a combatant regardless of age or height.

being bombarded everyday by my country pro-hamas news (today I have even heard an italian UN Offical claiming that the school was a safe place…) I feel that even the UN organization on the ground is siding with Hamas… like when the Pope didn’t said anythign when hamas started to fire rockets and then start to spoeak only when the IDF answered.

I want to say that even if my government and a lot of europeans seems to be criticizing israle and blaming you for everything, not everyone is thinking the same. I think that today every person who cares about freedom and peace is praying for Israel and its citizens and soldiers.

Again thanks for the information (for example I didn’t know about the fact that the school had already been used as mortar firing position).

I’ve seen the arguments that Hamas is to blame for civilian deaths by placing themselves in civilian proximities, but is defending yourself against an attacker just cause for killing any innocents the attacker decides to hide behind? Just something to think about during the self-justification taking place. If police surrounded a gunman in a public square who was hiding behind a hostage and shooting indiscriminantly at people, would the police shoot him and the hostage and blame him for the innocent death?

As an American living in the US – we need to know as much as possible about the struggle Israel is facing. So much of our media is tainted by anti-Israel reporting – articles like yours are so helpful to the millions of Americans that support Israel. Thank you.

What a very moving post, and I will pass it on to all that care enough to think beyond the sound bites we get in the media.

This upcoming Saturday, January 10 I’ll be gathering many of my friends to attend the pro-Hamas rally being put on by ANSWER in Los Angeles. None of us are Jews, we are Catholics, Protestants and agnostics – but we will be standing up for Israel against these fools who cannot distinguish between the terrorist and their victims.

This is the first time I’ll be doing more than just writing and arguing for respect for Israel. We all need to get off the couch and face down these throngs of anti-Israel thugs. Israel is worth defending.

‘Outsiders’ need help to understand both sides of this horror, as it seems there is an utter lack of restraint on Israel’s part. This is how the media is presenting it, this is how most ‘moderate’ people are speaking of the events in Gaza. Israel is seen as acting in a disproportionate way.

Your diary entry seems to be infering that the children who died in the UN school were not ‘innocent’.

Is that what you really mean?

I ask because I am not sure if you are aware of how this diary entry of yours is coming across to people who are neutral. To those of us who do not understand the events in Gaza, your diary entry gives us the answer.

To those of us who are neither from Israel or Palestine, your article would sound like you are saying the children were not ‘innocent’.

The pictures you have chosen are only of children with weapons, and the injured children. This juxtaposition suggests, to the neutral person, that the children who are injured are the same children who carried weapons. With the text you have used, it all points towards a woman from Israel expressing her feeling that the children who died were not missed by Israel.

For your own sake, clarify your meaning, because this diary journal is being copied and sent around the world as an example of how a normal, intelligent woman from Israel states that the children who died in this attack were not innocent and in some way ‘deserved’ to die.

If you do not think the people of Gaza should hide in the public buildings, can you find the coordinates of a safe place they can hide in?

It is no good just getting angry with those who do not agree with you. We don’t understand what is happening in Gaza, we prefer to think that the Israel people are caught up in something, that they don’t wish harm on their neighbours children, but sadly, this is not what we are hearing.

Actions speak louder than words. A school was bombed.

I suspect you will not answer this question, which again proves our worst fears, that those from Israel are as far out as some of the media suggests.

When they stop reproducing like rabbits and have so many offspring that they can afford to use them as human shields, using the respect the west gives to human life to their advantage to put pressure on israel, they will refrain from furthering this.

Because if the life of their children was more important than some stupid rockets, they would. But they haven’t, since they are all replacable. They will produce a hundred more children tomorrow. They use their women like vending machines to produce children.

Unfortunately being human is something they have not been taught. And humans never defeated wild animals in the ancient days by talking to them, did they? 🙂

Dear Soldiers MomYour story makes me cry. This is the worst form of CHILD ABUSE. Why doesn’t anyone recognize this as child abuse. In the US we are so appauled by such abuse, but when it comes to what Hamas does to children and what parents let their children be subjected to, well, why aren’t more people appauled. I am the wife of a rabbi and every Shabbat we pray for the Israeli soldiers that are defending her. We pray for your son. Donna Rubinger

I remember coming to Israel (Tel Aviv to be exact) in 1991 during the first gulf war. My Patriot Missile unit was deployed quickly from Germany once Iraq started firing scuds into Israel. I was very honored and extremely gratified to assist in the defense of your wonderful country and would do so again in a heartbeat. I hear protests on Tv saying “send the Jews back to the ovens” and all I have to say is over my dead Catholic body!! If the US back then found it necessary to defend Israel from Iraqi scuds, why is it so difficult for these morons to understand Israel defending itself from these mortars and rockets being fired from Gaza? I say be courageous, dont stoop to the UN or the biased news media (that threw the elections here in the US by the way). Pound them.. pnd them hard!! Destroy those terrorists before they destroy you. I hate to say it, it hurts to admit it but the brainwashed young future terrorists probably have to be destroyed as well. They brought this on themselves. The Gazans made their bed by electing Hamas and now Israel has no choice but to make them lay in it. May God look kindly upon your boys there. Some will be called to make the ultimate sacrifice but I am confident in the knowledge of their reward in paradise while those bloodsuckers who killed innocents in their warped efforts to attain paradise (with 72 virgins) “LOL” will be greeted with something much different. Shalom.. Be strong Israel.. we support you!!

Has anyone offered any actual evidence that mortars were fired from the school? I haven’t seen any. Isn’t it possible that the school wasn’t being used as a firing ground and that the IDF struck it by accident? Just like a day earlier when an Israeli tank accidentally fired at a house in which Israeli soldiers were resting, killing three of them. No one claimed fire was coming from that target.

It wouldn’t be the first time Israeli artillery missed its mark wildly (think the Gaza beach incident in 2006, to which the IDF initially responded by suggesting falsely that the explosion may have been caused by a hamas mine).

To your point about being able to hear mortar fire. Its not such a stretch to think that to the untrained ear, it can be hard to distinguish between incoming and outgoing fire. The school was apparently used as a shelter, so the sound of those particular mortar rounds, especially in the midst other fire in the area, may have made people just as likely to hunker down as to leave.

Also, you point out that it isn’t very smart to stay in an area under fire. Then you suggest that the “innocents” in the school were perhaps no so innocent. But isn’t there a difference between being stupid and being guilty? Why do you think people stayed in the school with their families? Out of solidarity with Hamas or because they didn’t know where else to go?

All I’m saying is that sometimes you just have to admit that when you go to war, you end up killing people who don’t deserve to die. Sometimes a lot of them. Acknowledging that doesn’t weaken Israel’s case for war. Making flimsy and illogical excuses for it does.

All that said, I wish Israel’s soldiers the best and I hope they come home safely.

I’m a mom and sadden by all the killings going on. Personally, I think the UN, especially the US should stay out of it. Let the middle easterners fight their own battle(s)…how they like. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

I was very moved by your post and impressed by your insight. I posted on it at my blog, Refugee Resettlement Watch. I am in the United States but have 16 relatives in Israel, some of an age to be called up to fight. I am praying for you all.

I’d like to thank you for standing up to speak out about the so-called “war crime” perpetrated by Israel. This war is so much more than snapshots. The war will be won by whoever can muster the most international support, and as such this blog ought to get as much publicity as possible.

How awful to see the children with explosives attatched to their bodies, holding guns, and explosives. I have never seen such things. My feelings are hard to describe. I want to cry, scream, shout, NO,NO, NO.

THANK YOU!!!!My husband and I will post all the pictures and will give the link to your blog. It’s time for the people to know the truth, to educate themselves about the truth and what is really going on, and I am so mad at the media, I can’t watch the news without getting mad. Thank you so much once again.

Civilians and children were told to take shelter in the school by the authorities.Not thier choice entirely, especially the children.Please do not misunderstand this as argumentative. Besides the obvious casualties, soldiers and thier families are the true victims.I have much respect for you.

Please take a look at your own posts, and start to answer this question, Are you just lieing to the ‘infidels’. Your posts seem to try to confuse and obfuscate what is going on.

Your religion says you can tell untruths to ‘infidels’ in furtherance of your goals, but us ‘infidels’ know your ways are the opposite of the truth, and truth is the Lords way.

When you catch yourself telling untruths, does your conscience even bother you?

The Lord is Truth, he has no reason for deception, and abhors it. If your beliefs allow you to tell untruths to anyone, are you not violating the ways of the Lord?

Deceit is darkness, no matter what your viewpoint, and darkness is not Light, and Truth and Light is the way of God.

Any belief that tells you that you can tell untruths, even to ‘infidels’ in order to pursue ‘God’s work’ when God’s work is truth and light is a blasphemy.

God instructs us to behave in manners that are pleasing to Him, and to speak His truth, even if it means an end to our ‘earthly’ experience.

That is true Martyrdom, to speak the truth, the light, and the wisdom of God, even if you die in doing so, for God created you for a purpose, and that purpose is only known to Him.

Your way is to spread untruths, so that you may survive in this earthly realm, even as your earthly beliefs lead to death and destruction.

The other option is to die via jihad, in which your life ends in suicide and terror (abhorrent to God, for life is the gift He entrusts unto you, to do His works), and as to terror, to design one’s own fate, and the fate of other’s is not of man’s command, this is a realm reserved only to God. To force your beliefs on others through terror is the way of man and not the way of God.

So how does confusion and obfuscation, even to ‘infidels’serve the Lord? Would not Clarity, Light,and truth serve Him more?

Confusion and obfuscation are the way of the earth, Truth and Light is the way of God.

This woman’s post is how so many of us ‘infidel’s’ view our responsibilities to God. We are responsible for raising and protecting our children in the way of the Lord.

We will not place them in harms way so that an earthly goal may be achieved, and isn’t that the whole crux of the story? The ‘believers’ will lie, tell untruths, obfuscate, and lie, and even place their own children in danger in order to attain an earthly goal.

I will not raise my children to fear liars and obfuscators, but rather to know that true evil, the ways of darkness, exist in the hearts of men, and must be confronted.

Neither I nor my children will fear your random attacks, rather I will pray to God that His truth and light will embrace you and change you.

I will not sign this as ‘Anonymous’ as evil does need to be confronted, it is what the Lord, my God, demands of me.

I am an American and a Roman Catholic. I want the people of Israel to know that informed Americans support them. It is embarrassing and disgraceful that the US media (NBC, CBS, ABC and CNN) keep telling lies, neglect to inform the truth, and manipulate the American people. There are some of us who are informed of the truth (naturally we don’t watch the US mainstream media and get or news from other sources) and there is support for you among the US people even though the media would like to tell you otherwise. A sign of hope is that these media outlets are getting fewer and fewer viewers and readers. As US citizens continue to get their news from other sources, there will be more and more support for Israel.

I continue to pray for Israel and support you as you Defend your nation against those who have been attacking you for so long… I’m amazed at the comments above- I’m appalled at those who truly believe Israel should simply sit still as they are continuously bombed through rockets, suicide attacks, etc… 8 years is enough- Israel has been through enough- I wish and pray for peace for your nation.

Western Media wouldn’t ignore such pictures if it wasn’t for the liberals that have essentially brain-washed the majority of Americans. And I’m sure if we could just be done with Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army would be there in a heartbeat to help out the Isreali people. My heart goes out to all of you affected by this insurgency of Jihadists. God bless.

I used to be very pro-palestinian but since Arafat refused to sign the peace treaty with Israel I started thinking as to why was that? Slowly, after reading Koran again, I came to the conclusion that muslims are prohibited by islam to enter any treaties with non-muslims and particularly with Israel. They do not want peace whereby Israeli State remains intact. According to Islam peace is possible only after all enemies of Islam are defeated’ that is converted, killed or turned into dhimmi slaves. In such scenerio Israel, if it is to survive must destroy the enemy regardless, if the enemy are grown ups, women or children. The moment Hamas terrorists decided to launch rockets from the school, it became the legitimate target for the Israeli military. Shame on the palestinians for leaving their children in school to be used as a human shields, we think. What the palestinians intended and accomplished is to have as many of their children killed so they and their accomplices in the world media would have all those pictures for propaganda use. Some of you readers might say, Oh my God man! get real, it is not possible for the parents to wish to have their children killed as a propaganda stunt. While in truth that many parents did not really wished for their children to die, yet they could not bring themselves to resist peer pressure and religious command to scrifice their children for Allah. You have to understand as I do, muslims believe that their children will go straight to paradise and as martyrs will enjoy special place there. That is why they are willing to kill other innocent people and have their own children and themselves die. Islam is a cult of death. The only way to defeat them is to exterminate all those who insist on remaining in that cult. There is simply no other way.

This is a horrible reality that the world must face when the terrorists are using young children as martyrs or solders. Another thing is I hope the U.N will not step in; the reason being is that Israel has taken to much and must act in self preservation.

Dude, I say let the Israelis kick all the Muslims back to Mecca!!!!! With that said there is a good backing for this newest engagement in the Gaza strip and it is SELF PRESERVATION a lot of people hear in the U.S.A. just don’t get that.Just to let yall know I’m with Israel 100%.

I urge every Christian around the world to help ISRAEL…it is our duty as Christians to help them. Did we all forget that CHRIST is a JEW? My heart goes out to Israel and it’s people..as far as ISLAM goes…I urge everyone who is reading my post to go to http://www.thepetitionsite.com, and go to the search button and type in “No more muslim immigration” and please sign the petition…we the people of the USA will no longer tolerate MUSLIM life here.

great information that i can’t get on t.v. here, seeing those kids with guns and bombs strapped to themselves , reminded me of something mao tse tung said in his little red book. give me the children and i will raise great communists. In other words brainwash kids who will assume it is natural to kill. I can’t find anywhere in my bible it states i would go to heaven if i murdered innocents. john carter

hello my name is kelsey i started reading your blog just recently its so sadd seeing children died during the war between israel & palestine i feel like crying everytime i see faces of little children in war torn countries some people dont know that we all can love one another 🙂 i hope your son is okay in combat and that your family are safe i hope for peace some day for you & me

Thank you first of all, for your beautiful writing and your courage. Please thank your son Elie for his courage and all that you do for Jewish people everywhere. I am praying for all of you and thinking of you day and night. May HaShem bless and keep you.

I will say out the outset Im not really pro Israel. I have heard much of the Gaza conflicts in the news hear. (Australia).I have been shocked of death of the little children, my heart breaks when I see little kids wounded or dead. Im not sure about the truth of Hamas using UN building as firing platforms i have not heard or seen the evidence. But Hamas got what they wanted they kept firing rockets into Israel in the cease fire. What choice does Israel have? It literally is die or live for Israel. I can only conclude that with Hamas’ continually firing of rockets that they wanted to be attacked. Weather they use human shields or not Hamas certainly didnt think of civilan causualties or the Palitinian people. I really see Hamas the enemy of Palistine

Having Served My Country in the United States Marine Corps; having trained side by side with several members of the IDF- I can say that I not only understand; but support you in your efforts to abolish Terrorisim against your Country and fighting the un-popular fight. Do what you must Israel. And don’t stop until the mission is complete!!

We are a democratic country; so much so, we allow our enemies into our government and from the podium of our parliament, they have the freedom to call for policies that would destroy us.
Our current enemies, those who pose the most immediate threat lie to our north. This is Hizbollah land, where according to their leader Hassan Nasrallah, “We have discovered how to hit the Jews where they are the most vulnerable. The Jews love life, so that is what we shall take away from them. We are going to win, because they love life and we love death.”
Our enemies lie to the northeast. This is Syria. My sons have spent many months on the Golan Heights, including some tense days waiting to see how the Syrians would react after Israel sent planes to destroy a building widely believed to be the beginnings of a nuclear reactor. My oldest son fought near Gaza to help stop the rockets from being fired against Israel.
Our enemies lie further to the east. This is Iran, led by fanatics who promise that they will do all they can to accomplish in a few minutes more than what Adolf Hitler accomplished in six years of war. The Iranian leadership has made it clear in words and actions that they are after a nuclear bomb and that their goal is to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Believe them.